China is to boost its defence spending by 11.2% in 2012, the latest in nearly two decades of double-digit increases each year.
Although the planned figure is less than last year's 12.7% increase, China's military leaders have said they are unhappy with recent moves by the Obama administration to increase the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Only twice since the early 1990s has the increase been less than double digits.
The National People's Congress spokesman Li Zhaoxing said China's defence spending would increase by 11.2% over actual spending last year to hit 670.2bn yuan (£67bn/$106.4bn) in 2012, an increase of about 67bn yuan.
China's official defence spending is the largest in the world after the United States, but actual spending, according to foreign defence experts, may be 50% higher as China excludes outlays for its nuclear missiles and other programmes....
Via
Deloste